of America

A Proclamation

Agriculture, America's oldest and most important industry, once required much of the time of most of our people. No more. Now each farm or ranch worker provides enough food and fiber for himself and 77 others here and around the world.

We are blessed with abundance, but we have no guarantees for the future. If we are to be ready to meet expanding markets and world needs for the products of our agricultural bounty, we must search for still better farming methods. We must find ways to control such factors as accidents that erode our productive capacity in agriculture.

Last year nearly 400,000 farm and ranch residents were injured -- many of them fatally -- in accidents. The cost in dollars was substantial and, in human suffering, incalculable.

While difficult jobs and adverse conditions are a part of farming, accidents need not be. Most farm accidents and occupational illnesses can be prevented or reduced through safe work practices, use of protective equipment, and attention to safety in the rural home, in transportation, and in recreation.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week of September 19 through September 25, 1982, as National Farm Safety Week. I call upon those who live and work on the nation's farms and ranches to commit themselves to the safe conduct of all their activities, both on and off the job. Also, I urge the people and organizations allied with agriculture to help turn this commitment into reality by supporting personal, group, and community safety efforts in every possible way.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of April in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixth.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:15 a.m., April 19, 1982]